SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ABERDEEN. 19 





ORDINARY MEETING. 



A meeting was held on Thursday, May 15th, 1911. Rev. F. G. Bowie, M.A., 

 of the United Free Church of Scotland Mission, New Hebrides, delivered a 

 lecture on the New Hebrides and their Inhabitants. Dr. Low, Vice-President of 

 the Society, who occupied the chair, described a skull presented by Mr. Bowie 

 to the museum. 



Mr. Bowie said, " The New Hebrides were discovered by the Spaniards but 

 were named by Captain Cook. Geologically the islands were coralline and 

 volcanic in their structure ; present day volcanic action was seen in three active 

 volcanoes, numerous submarine eruptions and frequent earthquakes, while 

 between the islands of Tongoa and Epi a new island had sprung up and 

 disappeared again. The islands varied in size from mere dots to Santo, which 

 is 40 miles broad by 80 miles long, and has mountain masses reaching over 

 5200 feet. 



" The people are Melanesian with a Polynesian admixture ; some are big 

 while others are of a medium and smaller size. The Polynesian element is strong 

 on the islands of Futuna, Aniwa, Fila, and Nule, half of Emae and noticeable 

 here and there upon the larger islands. These different peoples, although living 

 on the same small islands, showed little signs of fusion, for two or three tribes, 

 absolutely with different languages and customs, were to be found within very 

 small areas. These facts puint to various immigrations probably within com- 

 paratively recent times, but of these in the south of Santo, to which his personal 

 knowledge was confined, Mr. Bowie, although from the Ethnology of the people 

 he thought there were few such intrusions, could find no evidence from the 

 traditions of the people. 



"This complexity was illustrated by the fact that on Santo alone there are 

 four missionaries, each one of which has to speak a different language, and some 

 require more to work their districts. 



